Grade 7-8 Winners

HONOURABLE MENTION (GRADE 7-8)
Grace Glosnek
Noctivagant

Sometimes I feel like I’m at war with myself.

Everyone has good and bad days. I tend to have more bad days than good days. I push people away, when all I could have used was a hug, and the words “It’s going to be ok”. I needed those words, except I could never reach out for help because there was no one to tell. Well, there was no one who would listen. Just the idea of telling the people closest to me my dark secret was just as terrifying as the nightmares themselves. I was scared that once they knew, things would never be the same, and I would lose them forever. Then I would truly be alone, just like that night.
It was cold and dark, I felt lifeless. I was trying to scream that I was ok, but no words left my quivering lips. I tried to cry, but my eyes were frozen in fear. The look of concern on my mother’s familiar face was indescribable, and forever branded in my memory. My mind and body were no longer aligned. I didn’t know what was happening to me. This had never happened before.

For years I had experienced panic attacks. I did everything but sleep during the night. I already knew I was noctivagant, or in other words, a sleepwalker, but sleepwalking and talking was normal for me. Unfortunately, sleepwalking and talking escalated to sobbing, thrashing and shrieking as I slept, and by sunrise, I would have no explanation as to why my face was red and swollen. After too many unsettling sleeps, I had had enough. I didn’t think I was crazy, but I knew these outbreaks were derived from a dark place, and that alone convinced me enough that I might indeed be going insane.

Many people appear perfect to the human eye, but that’s because they only show you their good side, or the person that they long to be. The Japanese believe we have three faces. The first is how we present ourselves to the world, the second is how we show ourselves to our close friends and family, and the third face we never show to anyone but ourselves. The third face is where we hide our deepest darkest secrets.

The only person who knew about my deepest darkest secrets was my mother. She was the one who would rush into my room and asking me in an anxious tone of voice if I was ok, or if I was having a seizure. She would try to comfort me like all mothers do when their children are in need. If there had been an incident the night before, she never showed me how shaken she really was but I just knew because of the glare of terror in her eyes, that it had happened again. Sometimes I feel sorrier for my mother than myself. But that night, all of that changed when this time it wasn’t my mother who I felt sorry for. I felt sorry for myself.

It had been a normal day. Nothing out of the ordinary occurred, until that very night. As I lay down on the sheets of my bed, I immediately fell into a deep sleep, trance like. Late in the night, my door slowly creaked open. There was a familiar shadow in the doorway. There stood my mother asking me in a fragile voice if I was ok. I tried to respond but something wasn’t right. Everything was the way it should have been, except I couldn’t move or talk and I was seeing everything take place from an angle I shouldn't have been seeing things from. I thought what I was witnessing was my mother seeing my lifeless body. However I realized that what I was seeing wasn’t real. This was a nightmare that had progressed too far. I began internally crying and screaming uncontrollably, and the voices in my head just laughed and laughed at me.

Witnessing yourself lifeless opens your eyes to see if you’re really just ok. Whenever somebody asks you how you are, your initial response is that you’re ok, but someday, you're going to realize that you weren’t ok, and you should have been honest with not only them, but yourself. That night I could only compare what happened to me with my body being inhabited by a ghost. You become possessed and you surrender to its control.

Feeling powerless, you let the little voices in your head jump at the chance to tear you apart. This is their time to make you feel worthless and to justify your suspicions that you may be going mad. They tell you things like you’re a wreck. Your own mother thinks you’re ill. One day you won’t wake up, and once people know what your life’s really like, you’ll be alone forever. The voices never stop until you believe what they’re saying too. The voices simply won’t let you forget what happened, and the devil within wasn’t going to either. It was as if whatever I did to stop the pain and suffering made the circumstances excruciatingly worse. The voices slowly became louder and the thoughts became nastier. That night I was ashamed that I finally surrendered to the voices when I somewhat began agreeing with what they were saying.

WINNER (GRADE 7-8)
Elsa Davis
Ember

Ember stared as the world around her burst into flames. Not again, she thought. Fires were an ordinary occurrence in her village and it wouldn’t take long to fix it once the flames died down. Why, wondered Ember, do we keep building a village, for people who make fire and turn into dragons, out of flammable material? Maybe...

“Ember hurry up!” cried her brother, Spark. She shifted. Her spine lengthened a tail shot out. Huge leathery black wings erupted from her shoulder blades. Her arms and legs strengthened. Spines shot from her back. Black scales covered her body. Ember spread her wings and leaped into the sky.

She hovered alongside her brother. “Is anyone still in there?” she asked. “No,” Spark replied, “we got everyone out. You’re the last one.” Flapping their wings the two black dragons shot off towards the cluster of people halfway up the mountains.

Ember crouched by the small pile of logs and brush. She held her hand palm up and thought hard. Fire,fire, fire, fire, FIRE! A small flame sat glowing and twisting in her hand. She set it down gently on the pile of brush and logs that the villagers had collected. At a fire further on Spark plunged his arms into the fire, moving some sticks into a better position.

High above the clearing a shadow hovered. Watching as the villagers settled down to sleep beside the many fires, that cast red-orange glows, bright against the dark mountains surrounding them.

Ember and Spark lay back to back. Ember facing the fire and Spark watching the woods. As she drifted in and out of sleep dark shadows appeared from the trees. They bent down, lifted a sleeping Spark up, and silently slipped back into the shadows, taking Spark with them. Ember sat up as soon as the shadows had gone. Who were they, where had they taken Spark, and why? Without stopping to think anymore Ember stood up. She slipped past the sleeping villagers and out into the woods. Her mind already made up. She was going to rescue her brother.

Ember quickly picked up the trail. Broken branches and footprints in the mud made a clear path. She followed the trail through the night and well into the early morning before she sat down on a rock, by a stream, completely exhausted. These shadows are moving a lot faster than I expected, she thought, They must have been running most of the way. How… can I possibly catch up with them. Oh right. She took a quick drink from the stream and wolfed down a couple of berries from a nearby bush. Then she shifted. The shift went as usual and soon a large black dragon was swooping low over the forest.

Ember was getting tired and grumpy. It was late in the evening and the sun had started slipping below the horizon. Couldn’t these shadows stop for a little. Maybe make a fire so she could find them easier. Out of the corner of her eye, Ember noticed a small flickering glow off in the distance. Almost hidden by the tall pines. Her heart jumped in excitement and she veered off to the left. Soaring towards the light, that gave her hope and a chance to rescue her brother.
Ember landed a ways off so that she wouldn’t be noticed. She shifted back to human form and raced off through the trees. Peeking around a thick old pine tree, Ember watched the shadows. One, smaller than the rest, she assumed was Spark. They huddled around the blazing fire, conversing in low voices. The sky grew dark and thestars began popping out. The fire burned low and one by one the shadows around it began dropping off to sleep.

It wasn’t until two minutes after the last shadowy figure lay slumbering, that Ember dared to creep from her hiding spot and into the soft ring of light that the glowing coals gave off. She picked her way quietly between the bodies, carefully looking at each one until she came to the one she was sure was Spark.

“Spark,” she hissed, shaking his shoulder gently, “wake up. We have to go.” Spark sat up groggily rubbing his eyes and looking around himself. His roving eyes stopped on Ember.

“Ember?” he said in confusion

“Shhhh,” whispered Ember, “we have to go, come on.”

“Coming,” replied Spark as he stood up. The siblings tiptoed little ways into the woods and stopped.

“What in the world are you doing here?” asked an aggravated Spark.

"I came to rescue you,” replied Ember feeling elated as the rescue had gone exactly as planned.

“I don’t need rescuing,” said Spark, “what makes you think I need to be rescued?” “YOU GOT KIDNAPPED!” yelled Ember, forgetting to be quiet.

“THAT DOESN’T MEAN I NEED TO BE RESCUED!” Spark yelled back. “YES IT DOES!”

“NO IT DOESN’T!” “YES IT DOES!”

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” said a new voice, “but you’re both being rather loud and there are people trying to sleep.” Both siblings turned to look at the newcomer.

He was a tall man, with deep brown hair and a short neatly trimmed beard. He was about two heads taller than Ember, and his voice was smooth. He was the sort of person that you like immediately.

“I don’t believe that we have met,” he said, looking at Ember, “my name is Stephan.” “I’m sorry we were so loud,” apologized Spark, “this is my sister, Ember, she came to rescue me.”

“We had better go back to the fire,” Stephan suggested, “I think we owe Ember an explanation.”

The sun was peeking above the trees when the trio returned. The camp was a bustle of activity as people cooked breakfast and broke camp. As they entered the clearing a short stout man with grey hair trotted up to them.

“There you are!” he exclaimed “The camp is in chaos! Leonora says that if she doesn’t get her gills wet she’s going to die. Celean saw a mouse and refuses to come down from the tree. And the cooks can’t decide whether to make pancakes or oatmeal! I am at my wits end trying to keep this camp in order!”

“Relax, Corumph,” commanded Stephan, “Tell Leanora that there is a stream just passed those trees over there. Ask Maaerde to try coaxing Celean down. You know how persuasive he can be. And tell the cooks that they can make both.”

“Now then,” he said as Corumph scurried away, to carry out his orders and create excuses for why he hadn’t thought of the answers,“ We owe you an explanation, Ember.”

“Most people do not know this, but in a temple, not far from here, there are five stones. You do know about the elements, right?”

“Fire, water, earth, and air,” replied Ember without hesitation “but I didn’t know there was a fifth.”

“Most people don’t know about the fifth, even though it is the most important. The fifth element is magic, if you are wondering. However we only have to worry about the first four. There is a stone for each element, and for each stone there is a keeper. Every thirty years a new keeper must be appointed. Except for magic, which hasn’t had a keeper in over sixty years. Anyone magical could be its keeper, and that’s almost everyone. We stopped looking for them thirty years ago, because we never picked the right person. We took Spark to be our keeper of the fire stone,” finished Stephan.

Ember’s head was spinning. She took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts. However, before she could speak, Spark asked the question that had been on the tip of her tongue.

“Can Ember come with us?”

“ I don’t see why not,” answered Stephan, after careful consideration.

“YES!” shouted Spark, startling everyone in camp, he gave Ember an excited hug, “It wouldn’t be the same without you.”

Breakfast was a simple affair. Plain pancakes and warm oatmeal, sweetened with honey. However, Ember ate it all wholeheartedly. After the meal was finished and the crowd had dispersed, Stephan called her over and introduced her to the soon to be keepers.

The four of them stood side by side, and when they did this you could see right away how different they were. Spark, with his brown hair that always seemed messy and was usually fairly tall, was dwarfed by the girl standing next to him.

She had blue hair that was cut short and her skin had a turquoise tinge to it. Ember knew immediately that she was the waterkeeper. Not because of her strange hair color, but because she had webbing between her fingers and gills on her cheeks, just below her ears.

On the other side of Spark was a boy with hair that hung down over his eyes and a sullen expression on his face. He was fiddling with something that Ember couldn’t quite see in one hand. His other hand was being firmly grasped by the fourth keeper.

She was a small mousy girl, with long black hair and she looked nervous at the prospect of a new person being around.

“This is Leanora,” said Stephan, motioning to the tall girl, “She is our water keeper, as well as the only undie in camp.”

“Hi,” she said. Her voice was bright and bubbly. She seemed very excited about the whole affair.

“This is Maaerde,” continued Stephan, gesturing to the sullen boy next to Spark, “He is our earthkeeper.”

“Hello,” he said, obviously not enjoying it the way Leanora was. “And this,” Stephan said, “ is Celean, our air
keeper.”

“Hi,” She squeaked. Something rustled in the undergrowth and Celeans eyes widened in fear. A strong wind picked up. Tossing up dust and tugging at Embers hair. Maaerde turned and said something to her that Ember couldn’t quite make out. Celean took a deep breath and the wind stopped. Before Ember could comment on the strange wind, Corumph burst into the little group.

“The camp is packed up and we are ready to move. If we leave now we should make it to the temple before lunch,” he said to Stephan, “ so if I may cut into the conversation, we need to leave.”

“True enough,” replied Stephan, turning to the group he said, “find something to carry and we’ll be off.”

Just as Corumph had said, the group reached the temple a few minutes before lunch. The temple itself was only large enough for about three rooms, but there were several buildings a little way off in the trees. All the buildings were made of a greenish stone and were surrounded by trees and winding paths.

After the group had settled themselves in and eaten lunch, Stephan ushered the six of them into the temple. There were five pedestals in the center of the room. On each pedestal was a stone.

The first stone was obviously the fire stone. It was red orange and the color twisted and danced, like the flames Ember had so often held.

The next stone was for water. This she knew because it was blue green and you could almost see the waves crashing on the edges.

The air stone was also blue, but it was lighter and softer. It swirled inside its stone. Always moving.

Ember didn’t give much attention to the earth stone. It was a blackish grey and looked like an ordinary rock. Instead her eye was caught by the fifth stone.

The magic stone was beautiful, it was every color you could ever imagine and several that you couldn’t were swirled together, with brilliant sparkles mixed in.

“Would you like to hold it?” asked Stephan, cutting into her reveraly. “Can I?” she said, astonished

“Of course,” he said, picking it up gently and holding it out to her, “Just be gentle and use both hands.” Ember reached out and carefully took the stone. Nothing happened. Everybody in the room let out the breath that they had been holding. Everyone had secretly thought that she would be a keeper.

Ember was about to hand the stone back to Stephan when Corumph burst into the room. He entered the circle of pedestals and tripped over his own to feet. Grabbing Embers arm in an effort to regain his balance.

Ember watched helplessly as the stone slipped from her fingers and plummeted towards the ground. Time seemed to slow down. Spark dove for it. Arms outstretched, he caught the stone. Bright light exploded from inside. The light only stayed for a second before it dulled to a gentle pulsing glow. Everyone stared at Spark.

“I’ll just be going,” mumbled Corumph, as he shuffled awkwardly out of the temple. “Amazing,” Stephan said, once he had gone, “all this time I thought it was calling for Ember and instead it wanted you.”

“So who’s the keeper for fire?” asked Maaerde.

“I am,” said Ember. She walked over to the stone and without hesitation picked it up. A red-orange glow filled the room before dieing down to a gentle glow. One by one the other three keepers picked up their respective stones. One by one the stones shone brightly. And one by one they dulled to a gentle glow.

“Welcome to your new life,” Stephan said. Everyone smiled happily, but none as happily as Ember.